


Secrets

by SoldierMason



Category: RWBY
Genre: Elderburn, F/F, Pre-Volume 3, Some Fluff, Winter Schnee/Yang Xiao Long - Freeform, two-shot!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-08-19 21:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8225977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierMason/pseuds/SoldierMason
Summary: Yang has been sneaking out past curfew for the last few nights to do whatever she's been doing for who knows how long now. What she's been doing is a mystery to her team, and that's how they got the idea to follow her. Also, Ruby didn't approve.(Two-shot!)





	1. Chapter 1

Yang walked alone down the cold alleyway, deep into the winter night. She had been sneaking out of Beacon after curfew for the last couple of nights, keen on continuing with the unsolved business pre-Beacon. Ruby and the rest of the team didn’t have to know, and she also didn’t want to worry JNPR. All she needed right now was for her search efforts to not be in vain, and for her contacts to keep on digging. That’s what she was paying them for, after all. She had been too preoccupied to visit them for the past weeks due to schoolwork and all that has been going down. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Yang was able to find some time for herself and resume what had felt like to be her lifetime task. Finding her damned mother.  
  
Unbeknown to Yang, three figures lurked in the shadows, following her to the designated meeting destination. Those three figures were very much the three main people she did NOT want to get involved. The rest of team RWBY. “Guys… I still don’t think this is a good idea. Yang probably has her reasons for doing what she does,” Ruby tried in vain to dissuade her teammates, and right her wrong when she told Blake and Weiss about Yang’s recent nightly disappearances.  
  
“Yeah,” Weiss snorted, “probably.”  
  
“Yang used to do this all the time back before Beacon!”  
  
“What, sneaking out?” Weiss looked at Ruby skeptically.  
  
Ruby’s face fell, “Not really…”  
  
“Then-”  
  
“Be quieter you two. I’m surprised she hasn’t noticed us already considering the amount of noise you make,” Blake interrupted, ending the small quarrel between the two partners. She turned to the short team leader. “Ruby, if this turns out to be something unimportant, we can all forget about it and go on with our lives. If this is, however, something significant, we deserve to know and most importantly, _help_ her.” Ruby whined but asides from that remained quiet, expressing her consent.  
  
The three returned to observing the brawler as she leaned back against the brick wall of a building. Nothing happened for what seemed like hours due to the cold but was probably only just a few minutes. Ruby was giddy with nervousness and was just about to jump out and tackle her sister to the ground demanding explanations, when a shady looking person entered the alley from the other side. Weiss, Blake and Ruby froze and stared ahead at what was happening. “It’s been a while, Blondie,” the man acknowledged, eyeing the girl up and down. “I see you still haven’t changed,” he smirked.  
  
“Shut up and tell me what you’ve got. You _did_ say you found something,” Yang demanded, dismissing his remarks. Most of the people in Vale were decent and good natured; however, every city has it’s… _few_ odd people.  
  
“Demanding as always, missy. What about the lien in exchange for the information?” the stranger asked. He was smiling but his dark green eyes hinted at something more sinister behind it.  
  
“We’ll see about the value of the news you’ll give me, then we can discuss the price,” Yang replied, narrowing her eyes. She wasn’t exactly afraid. She was a very capable huntress-in-training and it’s not like she hasn’t done this before, but this guy in particular always gave her the creeps. Whether it was his smile, eyes, or even the eerie air around him, she never liked him. Unfortunately, he _did_ always bring her useful material. “That’s how it was last time, that’s how it’ll be today.”  
  
“Last time was a long while ago, Yang. A lot happened since.” The man began slowly walking aimlessly near the girl in the alley.  
  
“If you don’t give me the information now, Russ, you can say goodbye to _any_ lien,” Yang stated coldly, eyeing the man. There was silence for a good few seconds before the man, Russ, let out a breath of air and a humourless chuckle.  
  
“As you wish,” he conceded. He began walking to her, and the three hidden teammates were ready to jump in and stop him from getting any closer. They didn’t know what was going on, who this Russ was or why even was Yang talking to him. He couldn’t be anymore fishy than he already was, and the fact that Yang was interacting with him was ringing alarm bells. _What was this information that Yang kept talking about? Why were they meeting here in this deserted alleyway? What was going on??_ The man leaned closer to the brawler and whispered something to her. Whatever it was, she went rigid and closed her hands into tight fists. He then backed away slowly and grinned. Yang broke out of her stupor and threw a bag of coins at him. He caught it and looked inside to inspect the amount received. He continued smiling as he closed the bag, and took another step back towards the way he came from. “As always, pleasure making business with you,” he called at her as he turned, still grinning, and began walking away. Yang stayed still for another minute before she shook her head and turned towards her own direction. She froze on the spot once she saw what was in front of her. Or rather, _who_.  
  
“Yang? We need to talk.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally get some Elderburn... some

  
Yang stared ahead of her, watching the heiress drill a hole into the ground from her constant pacing back and forth. “Your _mother?_ ” she asked, after a while, stopping to stand before the brawler. “And why haven’t you told us this before?” Weiss continued, hands flailing around. “We _are_ teammates after all, you know. What was it we’ve said about keeping secrets?” she sighed, crossing arms and pinching the bridge of her nose.  
  
“This was something I had to do, without dragging you all into it,” Yang looked down sheepishly, nonetheless standing her ground. “You saw him yourself. Do tell me, Weiss queen, would you be able to calmly negotiate with the likes of him?” Weiss stared at her affronted. “That’s beside the point-” she shouted, taking a step closer.  
  
“What she’s _trying_ to say, Yang,” Ruby interjected, not wanting things to escalate, “is that we’re all very happy to help anyhow we can. You don’t have to do all this sneaking around in secret.” Yang looked at her sister, wincing minutely at the dejected looking expression on her face. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, something her teammates noticed she tended to do whenever she felt guilty. Or exasperated.  
  
“Ruby, avoiding such a conversation was perhaps a reason I did this in the first place.” Yang stood up and took a while to look at every single one of her teammates. “Don’t get me wrong, I really do appreciate the sentiment and all, but this is something I have to do alone. Raven is my responsibility, and my _own_ burden.” She directed the last statement towards her sister, placing a comforting hand over her shoulder.  
  
“Well perhaps this conversation could have been avoided had we known about this beforehand,” Blake finally spoke up from her place atop Yangs bed. She jumped down to join the three other girls. “We’re not telling you to stop,” she continued, smiling slightly at the Blonde, remembering the familiar words exchanged sometime ago when Blake herself was running herself ragged. “We’re also not ordering you to involve us in your search. All we want you to know is that we’re here for you if you need it.” Yang’s smile widened a little, nodding at the faunus.  
  
“Good to know, kitty cat,” she finally agreed, letting out a small chuckle at the slight twitch of the bow.  
  
“Good that we have _that_ all cleared up,” Weiss nodded. “Now please, for the love of all that’s worthy, go call my sister to calm her down.” Yang looked at her bewildered, tilting her head. Ruby grinned sheepishly at her sister, poking her index fingers together as she rocked from side to side.  
  
“We may have vaguely stated that you’ve been sneaking around at night… and started keeping secrets,” she explained, looking around the room as she avoided Yang’s gaze.  
  
“She _may_ have misinterpreted that in however way one could,” Weiss finished, only looking a little apologetic.  
  
Yang gaped at both of them, looking back and forth. “You two _do_ realise how that sounds.”  
  
“We were more worried about finding you than the potential miscommunications that may occur,” Weiss defended. Yang raised an eyebrow at that.  
  
“What you’re trying to say is you’re too embarrassed to admit that you haven’t fully thought things out before doing them,” she goaded, smiling broadly at the indignant huff coming from the heiress. “That’s okay,” Yang continued, grinning at the girl as she flipped her hair over her shoulder extravagantly, “we can’t all be perfect.” Weiss actually snorted, raising her eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah, perfect. Clearly like you, you brute,” she chided.  
  
Yang stared at her a little, eyes narrowed in fake suspicion. “Is this some sort of attempt at a revenge for dating your sister?”  
  
Weiss rolled her eyes, looking at her unamused. “I can hardly agree with my sister’s date choices, but I wouldn’t stoop as low as to try and damage anything between you two.”  
  
“I see now!” Yang suddenly exclaimed, “you’re jealous of your sister! You want me all to yourself, isn’t that right?” She put an arm around the girls shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, right before proceeding to run out of the room laughing, leaving behind the sound of laughter from both her sister and partner as well as the sound of a dull thud - presumably that of a pillow - hitting the closed door behind her.  
  
After making her way to the roof, she plopped down onto the gravel ground and leaned back onto the wall behind her. Taking out her scroll, she only paused briefly whilst looking at the background image of her and her girlfriend on their first date. She took the photo of them before the other girl could even realise what was happening. It captured her looking at the grinning blonde with a faint smile, a small blush still present on her cheeks from the sneaky kiss the brawler sneaked in. Opening up her contacts, she dialled. After a few seconds of ringing, the call was answered and Yang couldn’t help but smile at the concern that was coming in an onslaught from the other side. “Hey, Win.”  
  
“Yang? Are you okay? Where are you - no, wait, where _were_ you?” the older Schnee demanded, voice sounding strained.  
  
“It’s okay, Winter. Don’t worry, nothing bad happened, I promise,” Yang tried to calm the older girl down.  
  
“Do you have any idea how worried I was after my sister and yours called to inform me that you’ve been _sneaking out_ lately, doing Oum knows what?” Winter demanded. Although Yang couldn’t see her, she could imagine the girl pacing back and forth. She wondered if this was something her family did, or if Weiss got it from her sister.  
  
“I know and I’m sorry about that. I was just looking for my mother. I didn’t want to drag them into it,” Yang responded, the voice on the other side remaining silent for a little while.  
  
“Are you okay, Yang? Do you want me to come visit?,” Winter asked, breaking the silence. “I can take a small leave. The general can survive without me for a while, and I prioritise my girlfriend’s happiness over any of my work here.” Yang smiled at that, knowing how important the military was to her girlfriend. To hear that she’d disregard it to come make sure Yang was okay was not to be taken lightly, and quite frankly, it made the blonde girl’s heart flutter.  
  
“No need for that, thank you though,” she replied. “I was just catching up with some old contacts, trying to see if anything new showed up.”  
  
“And?” Winter asked. “Any new lead?”  
  
Yang hummed a little to herself, twirling a strand of her hair. “Perhaps.”  
  
“I assume your teammates already gave you the ‘you don’t have to do this alone’ speech. Either way, the offer stands by my side too, Yang,” the specialist reminded her, causing the brawler to grin.  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” she drawled, rolling her eyes lightly. “I think I’ll just take a small rest, is all. Catch up with the team, schoolwork and whatnot, you know?”  
  
“Are you implying you’ve been lagging behind on your work?” There was an edge to the tone. Yang knew fully well how to rile up her girlfriend, and knew that even the slightest insinuation of falling behind on her studies was not taken lightly.  
  
“Hm,” she grinned. “Maybe I’ve just been having a few difficulties with the syllabus. Perhaps you could help teach me the material, specialist Schnee?”  
  
Yang could imagine the raised eyebrow on the other end of the line, but the smile was unmistakable in the voice. “Yes, perhaps that would be beneficial. Don’t think I’ll be going easy on you, Ms Xiao Long.” She was a pause before a small sigh was heard. “Unfortunately I have to go now. My schedule is busy as it is, but I will call you tomorrow whenever I have the time.” Yang groaned dejectedly.  
  
“Fine, but our study session better be damn long the next time I see you.”  
  
Winter laughed lightly, “You can count on that.” A pause. “Love you.”  
  
Yang smiled brightly, before softly replying, “Love you too. Bye.” The line went quiet and Yang lowered her hand. She stared at the screen for a short while before putting the scroll back into her pocket and rising to her feet. She stretched and turned back towards the door. “Let’s go see if little Schnee calmed down enough to enter the dorm room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally decided to show up *points at self*. Sorry about the looong wait. Actually in the middle of exam week and who needs studying when they have an unfinished two-shot lying about, hehe.. um yeah. SO. Here you have it guys. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Also thanks to Lexyr and Understudy for the pairing rec. Don't know how I did. Tried reading some Elderburn to get the characters right but they're quite rare so.. not perfect. Hope it's alright though.


End file.
